Best And Worst ETFs Of The Week Amid Independence Day Celebration

The holiday shortened week came to a close on light volume and unenthusiastic price action. Sellers managed to push the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) over 1 percent lower this week, as Greek default worries led to marked declines in broad-based exchange-traded funds. Nevertheless, hope remains that this embattled nation will come to a truce with its creditors to restore fiscal order in the European continent.

The end of the quarter and mid-point of 2015 served as a reminder that very little progress has been made so far this year. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE: DIA) is trading near the flat line, while the iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (NYSE: IWM) notched the strongest gain of all the major indices with a total year-to-date return of 4.68 percent through June 30.

The following ETFs represent a sample of the best- and worst-performing funds over the last five trading sessions.

BEST: Volatility Futures

On Monday, SPY experienced its largest single day decline of 2015 with a drop of more than 2 percent. This sent volatility futures flying higher as traders scrambled to hedge their positions with options. The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN (NYSE: VXX) gained 15 percent this week after recent falling near its lows of the year.

This exchange-traded note is the largest dedicated VIX futures fund, with over $1 billion in total assets. VXX is designed to capitalize on swings in investor fear. Heightened selling and uncertainty in the market generally leads to a spike in the CBOE VIX Volatility Index.

WORST: Greek Stocks

The catalyst for a jump in VXX was spurred by headlines that Greece would be unable to meet an IMF debt repayment deadline and had closed the Athens Stock Exchange. This news led to a steep weekly decline of 10 percent in the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (Global X Funds (NYSE: GREK)).

GREK tracks the 20 largest stocks on the Athens Stock Exchange, and prior to this announcement, had been taking in a tremendous wave of new assets, as global investors bet on a turn around. While GREK did manage to claw back some of its hefty losses this week, the fund remains a question mark for investors until the Greek stock market reopens and prices can adjust accordingly.

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